Little Girl Don't Grow Up Too Fast

Why Her and Not Me

 Oprah's story with the Fisher family was soon broadcasted to the whole world a month after being shot, and people finally had their clarity. Carrie was still more popular than ever with the paparazzi, but it had died down drastically from a month ago. Mike was starting to get back into hockey season, Carrie was finishing up her album and preparing for a launch, while Charlotte was adjusting to the kids treating her differently at school.

"Dad, can I please invite Hanna over?" Charlotte begged. She had finally made an actual friend at school and she wanted her to come over while her dad went out on another date.

"Not while I'm going out tonight," Mike told her as he tucked his shirt in. "Plus, she's coming here before we leave so you can meet her."

"The last thing I want to do is meet her," the teen rolled her eyes.

"Please be nice. That's how I raised you," he sighed.

"Only if you let me have a friend come over to spend the night," she bargained.

"Not happening."

"Then me being nice isn't happening," she huffed. "How could you date this girl when you clearly have feelings for someone else?!"

"You have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Oh, you bet I do! I'm the daughter in the middle of it all so I should know!" she started to yell just as the doorbell rang.

Mike tried straightening his tie before giving up and looking over to the blonde teenager. "Will you help me fix my tie?"

"Fix your own dang tie," she muttered before stomping up the stairs to her room.

Mike balled his hands up in frustration, not knowing what to do at that moment. He tried to calm himself before answering the door, revealing the tall, skinny, hot brunette in front of him.

"Hey!" he greeted her by kissing her on the cheek. "Come on in!"

"Thank you," the girl said as he helped her walk inside. "So where is she?"

"Um, about that..."

While Mike and his date were downstairs, Charlotte dialed a number on her phone as quick as she could.

"Hello," the sweet voice of her mom answered.

"Mom, you have got to pick me up from my house now," Charlotte demanded.

"What? Why? Is something wrong?" Carrie grew worried.

"Just come get me," Charlotte told her before hanging up the phone.

Not having any other obligations, Carrie was in the car right away, taking off towards the house as fast as she could. She was nervous as to what was going on. Were they in danger? Should she call the police? Is she hurt? So much was going through her mind until she finally pulled up to the house to see someone else's car parked in the driveway.

"Who's that?" Mike's date asked as she heard someone knock.

"Um, I'm not sure," he answered hesitantly before making his way back over towards the entryway. He opened the front door, revealing the beautiful short blonde in front of him.

"Um, hi," she spoke awkwardly, not having talked to him hardly since the interview. She looked behind them and saw a young girl who was so gorgeous that she was probably a super model or something. Carrie's heart wanted to shatter at that moment. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew why.

"What are you doing here?" Mike asked.

That was when Charlotte came racing down the stairs. She caught a glimpse at the her dad's young date, realizing that she wasn't much older than herself and way younger than her parents.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Charlotte looked at the brunette from head to toe, from the stilettos to the mini dress that had slits on the sides going up to her hips.

"Charlotte Marie," her father scolded.

"Charlotte, come on, let's go," Carrie instructed quickly, not wanting anymore confrontation.

"This is so low, Dad," Charlotte shook her head in disappointment before strutting to her mother's car parked out front.

"I'll bring her by in the morning," Carrie told Mike as she turned around and left, leaving Mike with his girl for the night.

"I can't believe he is with that slut," Charlotte spat out as the two blondes entered Carrie's house.

"Hey! Language!" Carrie scolded her harshly. In the months that she's known her, she had never heard Charlotte curse, especially for as sweet she is at her age.

"What other word am I supposed to use?!" Charlotte started to freak out. "Oh, come on. You know it's true, Mom."

The teen wasn't wrong, but Carrie was not about to admit it. "Just because you may not or I may not necessarily approve of someone's life decisions, does not give us a right to judge or be mean about it."

"I'm sorry, it's just-" Charlotte took a deep breath before coming out with the truth. "He hasn't dated anyone in a while and so it's hard to get used to again, especially now."

"Why now, especially?"

"What girl doesn't wish that her parents were together?" Charlotte questioned back, looking for an answer from Carrie. Carrie's eyes widened at the comment, unsure of how to respond. "I see the way you look at each other. You can't tell me that you don't have feelings for him."

Carrie still sat their dumbfounded, also realizing how mature Charlotte was for her age. "I'll always have feelings for your father, but we just seem to have a past that is really difficult to forget."

"You seemed to have forgotten it when you kissed."

Carrie couldn't help but have blushed at her daughter's remark.

"I got really mad at him that night after the interview when he said all that mean stuff to you in the bedroom," Charlotte added.

Carrie chuckled, "It's fine, it's not like what he said wasn't true. Ever since my career took off, it's hard to see who's genuine and who just wants to use me."

"When was the last time you were with someone?"

"A week before we met each other."

"Are you going to date anytime soon?"

Carrie shrugged, "Probably not. I think after your dad and I's incident I need to take sometime for myself. Focus on taking care of you."

"I love you, Mom," Charlotte wrapped her arms around her mother as they laid on the couch together.

Carrie gave Charlotte a kiss on the forehead, "I love you more."

"I really hope Dad stops being a jerk soon."

"Don't say that about your dad," Carrie stopped her as she ran her fingers through her daughter's hair. "No matter how hard it may be right now, don't start being mean and pushing him away. You're the light in both of our lives and we don't want to change that. This is just a phase. We'll all get through it eventually...together hopefully."